


Apples and Oranges

by curiously_me



Category: Elder Brother - Tamora Pierce, PIERCE Tamora - Works
Genre: Gen, sorcery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-02
Updated: 2017-06-02
Packaged: 2018-11-08 00:25:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11070192
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/curiously_me/pseuds/curiously_me
Summary: Based on Tamora Pierce's short story, Elder Brother, from the anthology "Half-Human."Numenair's thoughts on the apple tree he (accidentally)turned human.





	Apples and Oranges

Numair had never felt such guilt for having used his abilities before. Many times he had used his magic to protect both himself and those around him, but never before had he been confronted with such shocking consequences.

He had turned an enemy - a man - into an apple tree and, in doing so, had unknowingly done the opposite half the world away.

Numair had no way of knowing for sure, but he hoped Qiom lived in a place as welcoming as his own homeland.

Sadly, this was not to be the case.

Walking into Qiom's dreams was easier than entering any other beings mind and Numair wondered momentarily if the cause was his magic binding them together.

The mage quickly forgot his musings as Qiom came into view in the dreamscape.

The tree turned man was bleeding and bruised and appeared as if the slightest wind would topple him! He was such a sorry sight that Numair couldn't stop himself from reaching out to offer comfort, even though his touch would be insubstantial in their shared dream.

Taking in a deep breath, Numair considered how much plant knowledge Qiom still retained and advised him to use the things he knew to feed and clothe himself.

The sound of his name being called pulled Numair from the dreamscape and he bade Qiom farewell for the day, praying to any being that would listen to protect his charge.

As he woke, Numair felt the loss of the last crop of apples and wondered once more why he felt Qiom's presence and feelings so clearly.

Things seemed to be going better for Qiom the next night, when they met. He had found clothes and eaten fruits in the forest, but was wary of venturing into one of the human towns for more than the shirt on his back.

Knowing it was dangerous, but seeing the evidence of the beginnings of hypothermia in his charge, Numair reluctantly encouraged him to steal warmer, sturdier clothing from the next town he came across.

"Take only one piece from each line," He advised. "That way, the owners will be less likely to notice the missing items and report them to the authorities." Numair hoped this was the truth, even as he spoke the words.

It was not. The more time that passed, the more injuries Qiom seemed to gain.

"You have to be careful," Numair told him. "Stay out of sight, watch what they do."

He was beginning to regret promising to teach the apple tree turned man how to be human. How could you teach someone to be some thing so different from everything they knew?

But Qiom wasn't any good at sneaking and the situation kept getting darker and darker until the man ignored Numenair's presence entirely when he visited his dreams.

Soon, he began to wither away, starving himself out of desperation to escape the life he'd been forced into living.

Numenair despaired of finding something that would bring hope to his charge. He could see his dreams of death and his desire to be accepted by the beings treekind saw as gods.

It broke the mage's heart a little more, as each night he visited their shared dreams only to be ignored and turned away.

He was only trying to help.

And then help did arrive, surprisingly in the form of a human boy who believed himself to be just as odd as the strange man who sat upon a rock outside his village.

He called Numenair's charge 'Elder Brother' out of respect and taught him how to work to earn material goods, how to cook, and how to care for his human body.

Qiom still ignored Numenair in their dreams, but images and impressions still came across, enough for the mage to know that his charge was on his way to being safe.

Until the night that Qiom came to him, asking why a woman would disguise herself as a man? How a god of fire and his oracle could rule with such fear, even after so many years gone? Why were humans left to live, when they were so cruel to their own kind?

Numenair had had no answers for Qiom, but had offered him and his friend, Fadal, safe haven if they traveled across the seas and came to his lands.

The mage could tell that Qiom wasn't interested in his offer, perhaps too attached the the earth of his own homelands.

He was surprised beyond words, then, to find a young woman and an awkward looking young man standing outside his door one evening many months later.

"Mage? We are here."


End file.
